New York - Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Thursday warned the US Congress that a misstep on the financial crisis could make things much worse than they already are, and repeated his call for a bipartisan solution.

"For the Congress, this is one of those moments in history when poor decisions, made in haste, could turn a crisis into a far- reaching disaster," McCain said in a speech to the Clinton Global Intiative, a development foundation set up by former president Bill Clinton.

McCain said the speech would mark his last campaign event until legislation to resolve the financial turmoil is hammered out in Congress.

On Wednesday McCain said he would suspend his campaign and come back to Washington, where a bill allowing the government to buy up some 700 billion dollars worth of damaged mortgage-related assets was put forward by the White House.

Democratic rival Barack Obama rejected the call to stop campaigning, but will be in Washington Thursday for an emergency meeting of congressional leaders with President George W Bush. Obama was set to address the Clinton initiative by satellite.

McCain said his priorities would be making sure the massive rescue plan includes more accountability, oversight and protection for taxpayers.

On development, McCain said that combatting climate change would be one of the priorities of his presidency. He called for greater efforts to fight disease around the world and raise populations out of poverty, something he argued was also key to US national security policy. (dpa)